TEHRAN -- Chief commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hussein Salami said Tuesday the U.S. is unable to implement whatever plots it has concocted for the region, adding the machinations will “definitely fail”.
“The U.S. has 50 percent of the world’s military power but it is facing many internal problems,” Salami told a conference of university professors of volunteer Basij forces from across the country in the city of Mashhad.
“The enemy has so far taken every possible action against us. If we were not strong, they would attack, but because we have become strong, they avoid facing us and this strength of ours is exponentially increasing on a daily basis,” he said.
“Today’s war is a war of convictions, beliefs and values, and if we are weak, we will either be destroyed or must surrender, but we have become an important part of the world’s power with no acquiescence to the tyrannical order.”
Iran is today not relying on support from foreigners, said the commander, adding that the country is seeking a removal of the sanctions not because it needs them to be lifted but because it sees the restrictions as cruel.
“The problems caused by the sanctions constitute less than 10% of [the issues facing the country]. If we act correctly, we possess much talent, capacity, and facilities that enable us to overcome all the problems,” Salami added.
The United States said Monday that two long-distance warplanes flew across the Middle East as part of a simulated bombing exercise.
Top U.S. general Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich said the “Bomber Task Force” simulation on Sunday showed that the United States and its allies can “rapidly inject overwhelming combat power into the region on demand.”
A Central Command statement said fighter jets from Britain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia escorted the two B-52H Stratofortresses from the U.S. Global Strike Command on Sunday.
In the fourth exercise of its kind this year, the planes started at the Fairford air base in England and flew above the eastern Mediterranean, Arabian Peninsula and Red Sea “before departing the region”, the statement said.
The U.S. army “simulated firepower from the ground”.
Gen. Salami lauded Iran’s military capabilities and high-precision weaponry, saying the Islamic Republic has surpassed the world’s major powers in the field of air defense technology.
The commander hailed Iran’s significant progress in modern military
technologies and the country’s self-sufficiency in manufacturing sophisticated military equipment, despite the sanctions in place against the country.
“We rank first in many technologies. Even in the field of air defense, we have outpaced the top powers of the world to the extent that some superpowers are purchasing our weapons and offering joint cooperation,” Salami said.
“Today, building cutting-edge systems is as easy for us as manufacturing bicycles,” the IRGC chief said. “Today, the accuracy of our weapons for fixed and mobile targets is 100 percent, and our drones can target any point they want using artificial intelligence.”
“The logic of the Islamic Revolution is the use of power to establish justice,” he said.
The IRGC commander said sanctions have caused few difficulties for Iran, emphasizing that the country enjoys great capacities and potentials and is able to overcome all of its problems by relying on its beliefs and the guidelines of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
In Iran, he said, people support each other in various incidents due to the culture of self-sacrifice and officials also stand by the nation.